Window awning construction



F. A. ANION EF'AL WINDOW AWNING CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 19, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOBQ, fizzy/arms @Z'A .A/rfwz i i M y 1934. F. A. ANTON El AL 1,959,700

WINDOW AWNING CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 19, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 37 37 INVENTORQ 7X THar/ zfyF/Lmdfua BY V Patented May 22, 1934 UNITED STATES PATEN'El OFFICE WINDOW AWNING CONSTRUCTION tion of Kansas Application October 19,

14 Claims.

This invention relates to awnings and one of its objects is to produce an awning apparatus which may be used with any hinged type of awning to prevent the wind from vibrating the awning pole, and which is further useful in connection with automatic awnings where the visor portion-may be positioned at any desired point throughout the height of the window opening.

Another object of the invention is to produce a construction which, when used in connection with an adjustable visor type awning, will automatically collapse at a predetermined point in the length of the tracks or guides secured to the sides of the window opening, means being provided to prevent the awning frame from falling downwardly upon such collapse of the awning arms.

With the general objects named in View, and others as will hereinafter appear, the invention consists in certain novel and useful features of construction and organization of parts as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:--

Figure 1 is a side view of an automatic visor awning embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a side view of the same in collapsed position, partly broken away to illustrate parts otherwise hidden.

Figure 3 is a section on the line III-1110f Figure 1.

Figure 4 is aperspective view of one of the sliding brackets of the visor frame.

Figure 5 is a section on .the line V-V of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a pivoted awning arm construction not involving the automatic features, but intended as a" brace to prevent the wind from lifting the awning at its front or pole edge.

Figure '7 is a side view of a modified springactuated construction.

Figure 8 is a sectional view through the construction shown in Figure 7. a

In the said drawings, where like 'referenc characters indentify corresponding parts in all of the figures, the automatic visor equipped awning will first be described in which a pair of vertical tracks or guides are mounted on opposite sides of a window opening, said tracks preferably comprising angle strips having flanges l projecting at right angles to the building front and being rigidly secured thereto by means of angle plates 2 at spaced intervals. At the front 1931, Serial No. 569,564

or outer edges of the flanges l are cross or T-heads to form pairs of guides 3 and 4, paralleling the building front and disposed respectively on opposite sides of the flanges 1, the guides 3 being provided with vertical grooves or trackways 5. The upper parts of the guides 3 are formed with openings 6 (see Figure 4) of generally rectangular shape, said openings at the sides adjacent the respective flanges 1 being narrowed to form slots '7 for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

Adapted for reciprocation on the tracks are visor frames, comprising a pair of channel bars 8 held against movement away from the respective tracks by means of antifriction rollers 9 and 10, respectively journaled on arms 11 and 12 adjacent the top and bottom ends of the bars 8, said rollers being so positioned that they maintain contact with the inner faces of the tracks or guides 4. The visor frame is completed by a cross bar 13 connecting the upper ends of the channel bars '8. The visor frame thus formed, may be adjustably spaced at its lower ends from the tracks, by rocking the roller arms 12 on their pivots 14, said arms being formed with a-pair of ears 15 between which are fitted nuts 16 threaded on bolts 17 abutting at their opposite ends against ears 18 formed on the outer sides of the lower ends of the visor frames, constituting vertically movable brackets, as illustrated (Figure 4), whereby it is possible, by rotating the bolt 17 to rock the arms 12, to effect adjustment of the frame as regards its relation to the tracks, for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. The channel bars 8 are held against side slip toward the window opening by guide arms 19 secured to their lower ends and in contact with the side edges of the guides 3.

Pivotally mounted on the lower end of each of the channel bars 8 of the visor frame, is an awning arm 20, said arms being connected by an awning pole 21 at their outer ends, the awning fabric 22 extending from a roller 23 at the top of the window opening, under the cross bar 13 of the visor frame and being permanently secured to the awning'pole 21.

To prevent the collapse of the awning visor upon force being exerted to wind up the fabric on the roller 23, break-joint braces are employed, each comprising upper and lower members 24 and 25, the upperbrace member comprising a pair of similar bars pivotally secured at 26 to the respective sliding channel bars 8 of the frame, and the lower members of said brace being pivotally secured as at 2'? to the upper mem- The fabric may then be rolled or folded bers 24, and at its opposite end being pivoted at 28 to the respective awning arms 20, as illustrated.

In order that the awning may automatically and properly trip as will hereinafter appear, the pivotal center of the break-joint brace must not come into exact alinement, it being essential that the center pivot 27 must always be a trifle below a line connecting the other two pivots 2628. With such a construction, means must be proprovided to prevent collapse of thebrace except at a predetermined time at the top of the window opening when it is desired to roll up the fabric on the roller, and in order to maintain the brace in the desired position, the upper brace member carries a roller 29, which is adapted for constant rolling contact with the groove 5 in the track 3, and at its upper end said brace is provided with a set screw which by contact with the channel member 8 makes it possible to adjust the alinement of the two members of the brace, such adjustment'bein'g in addition to that available through the rocking of roller 10 as hereinabove described, which also obviously assists in adjusting the pressure of the roller 29 against the track, since the closer the break-joint brace members approach a straight line the less pressure is imposed by the roller on the track 3. Means, such as the rollers 10, must be provided to hold the lower ends of the brackets in proximity to-the guides, as otherwise the awning may partially collapse due to the outward swinging of the lower ends of the brackets and the partial folding of the braces because the weight of the entire structure is chiefly imposed on the awning pole'21 carried by the ends of the'arms 20.

' When the fabric has been rolled on the roller 23 to elevate the visor, the roller 29 will finally enter the opening 6 in the track and thus permit the brace to break, and the awning to collapse by the upward movement of the arms 20. Upon this collapse there is a tendency for the entire sliding structure to fall downwardly on the tracks to take up the slack in the fabric, but this is overcome by means of a curved hook or stop 31 carried by the inner ends of the awning arms 20, said hooks passing through the slots '7 simultaneously with the movement of the rollers 29 through their openings 6, and overlying and catching on the faces of stops 32 (see Figure 2) secured to the flange 1 of the tracks,

the upper surfaces of said stops being preferably equipped with the openings 6 and 7. The reciprocating bracket 8 to which the awning arm 20 is pivoted is only long enough to provide a point for the attachment of the break-joint brace 24-26, it being noted that this construction where it is desired to fold the awning, depending upon its width and length, the apparatus will work automatically as above described, or

it will be necessary for the operator to manually thrust the reciprocating brackets 8'upwardly until their rollers enter the openings and the break-joint braces move to collapsed position.

7 up a common with'pivoted awning arms.

In figures '7 and 8 a still further modification is illustrated in which 32a illustrates brackets for reciprocation on a track, said brackets being provided adjacent their upper and lower ends with fixed arms 33 on which guide rollers 34 are journaled for engagement with the rear face of the track or guide. The lower end of the bracket 32a is provided with a horizontal stop portion 35 and pivoted to the lower end of said bracket above the stop, is one end of an awning arm 36 which in its open position is maintained horizontal through contact with the stop 35, said arm being provided with a bell-crank portion 37 to which is journaled a roller 38 for goontact with the track 3, said track being provided with an opening (not shown) as described hereinabove, to permit the roller 38 to move to folded position when it is desired to swing the awning "arm to collapsed position incident to the rolling up of the fabric on its roller. This construction is not equipped with a rigid brace, but is provided with a yielding brace to prevent Wind vibration and to insure opening movement of the awning arms, said construction comprising a cross pin 39 in engagement with the arm 36, and pivotally mounted on said cross pin is a yoke 40 to which a rod 41 is secured. The upper endof the rod is slidingly received within an opening formed in a flange 42 formed integrally with the bracket 32a, and received between said flange 42 and the yoke 40 is anexpansion spring 43 which applies continuous pressure tending to hold the awning open or to open the awning arm. This structure, when folded, through the passage of the roller 38 through its opening in the track appears as shown in dotted lines Figure '7, the inner end of the arm 36 constituting a housing for enclosing the operating parts.

From the above description, it will be apparent that while we have described the preferred constructions, we reserve the right to make all changes within the spirit of the invention and without the ambit of the prior art.

We claim: g

1. In an awning, the combination of a pair of brackets secured to opposite sides of a win dow opening, a U -shaped awning frame pivotally secured at its ends to said brackets, a break-' joint brace between said brackets and the awning frame, and means for adjusting the alinement between the members of, said braced 2. The combination of a guide having an opening, a bracket mounted for reciprocation 0n the guide, an awning arm pivoted to the bracket, ,a collapsible brace pivoted at its ends to the bracket and arm respectively, to resist pivotal movement of the arm, a locking member formed on the brace and preventing collapse of the brace by being in contact with the guide and movable into the opening in the body of the guide to permit collapse of the brace.

3. The combination of a guide having an opening, a bracket mounted for reciprocation on the guide, an awning arm pivoted to the bracket, a collapsible brace pivoted at its ends to the bracket and arm respectively to resist pivotal movement of the arm, a locking member formed on the brace and preventing collapse of the brace by being in contact with the guide and movable into the opening .in the body of the ,guide to permit collapse of the brace, and a bracket-retaining member to prevent downward movement of the bracketupon the collapse of the brace.

4. In a window awning the combination of a pair of guides adapted to be secured adjacent the opposite sides of a window opening, and an awning frame slidable on the guides and having adjustable guiding means in engagement with the outer and inner faces of the guides to vary the spacing of the awning frame with respect to the guides.

5. The combination in an automatic window awning of a pair of T-shaped guides adapted to be secured adjacent opposite sides of a window opening and being formed with a trip opening in the body thereof, a pair of collapsible brackets mounted for sliding engagement on said guides and each being provided with an opening in the body thereof, an awning frame pivoted to said brackets and spanning the window opening, braces between the brackets and said awning frame to prevent pivotal movement of the latter, locking members projecting through the bracket openings and resisting collapse of the braces by abutment against the guides and movable into the guide openings to permit collapse of the braces.

6. In a window awning the combination of a pair of guides adapted to be secured adjacent the opposite sides of a Window opening, brackets slidingly engaged with said guides, an awning frame pivoted to the lower ends of said brackets, and means to adjustably space the lower ends of the brackets with relation to the guides.

'7. In a window awning the combination of a pair of guides adapted to be secured adjacent opposite sides of a window opening, brackets slidingly engaged with said guides, an awning frame pivoted to the lower ends of the brackets, and pairs of rollers in opposing engagement with the guides to hold the lower ends of the brackets in spaced relation to the guides.

8. In a window awning the combination of a pair of guides adapted to be secured adjacent opposite sides of a window opening, brackets slidingly engaged with said guides, an awning frame pivoted to the lower ends of the brackets, and pairs of rollers in opposing engagement with the guides to hold the lower ends of the brackets in spaced relation to the guides, one of said rollers of each pair being adjustably mounted to change the spacing between the guides and brackets.

9. In a window awning the combination of a pair of guides adapted to be secured adjacent opposite sides of a window opening, a pair of channel-shaped brackets slidingly mounted on said guides, a U-shaped awning frame having its side arms of channel shape with their corresponding side surfaces in the same vertical plane and coinciding with the corresponding sides of the brackets, and brace members pivoted at their opposite ends to the awning arms and to the brackets and enclosed by the channels thereof when the awning frame is in collapsed position.

10. The combination in an awning, of a guide having a stop portion, a bracket mounted for reciprocation on the guide, an awning arm pivoted to the bracket, a brace between the arm and bracket to resist pivotal movement of the arm, and means carried by the brace intermediate its length and abutting and movable along the guide for releasing the brace when said mefans reaches the stop portion of the guide to permit movement of the awning arm.

11. The combination in an awning, of a guide having a release portion, a bracket mounted for reciprocation on said guide, an awning arm pivoted to said bracket, resilient brace means between the bracket and arm, and means carried by the arm and abutting and movable along the guide for releasing the resilient brace when the bracket is moved a sufficient distance to engage said means with the release portion of the guide, to permit pivotal movement of the awning arm.

12. The combination of a guide having a cutout opening, a bracket mounted for reciprocation on said guide, an awning arm pivoted to said bracket, a brace pivoted to the awning arm to resist pivotal movement thereof, and means abutting and movable along the guide for releasing the brace when the bracket has moved a sufficient distance to permit said means to enter the cut-out opening to permit pivotal movement of the arm on the bracket.

13. The combination of a guide having a cutout opening, a bracket mounted for reciprocation on said guide, an awning arm pivoted to said bracket, a brace pivoted to the awning arm to resist pivotal movement thereof, and means formed intermediate of the length of the brace and abutting "and movable along the guide for releasing t -e brace when the bracket has moved a sufficient distance ,to permit said means to enter the cut-out opening to permit pivotal movement of the arm on the bracket.

14. An awning comprising a pair of guides having trip portions, a relatively inverted U- shaped visor frame mounted to reciprocate on said guides, a U-shaped awning frame pivotally secured at its ends to the visor frame, braces between the visor and awning frames and normally preventing pivotal movement of the latter on the former, and means on the braces intermediate their ends and abutting and movable along the guides for releasing the braces when the visor frame has been moved a suflicient distance to permit said means to engage the trip portions to permit pivotal movement of the awning frame on the visor frame.

FREDERICK A. ANTON. WALTON T. HARRIS. 

